When she was 12, Ackroyd tattooed his initials on her arm. This is one of those things when you hope youll get a call from the family saying shes in Los Angeles or somewhere, Martinak said during the search. At the same time, a dozen investigators working the Turner case seized on Ackroyds shifting accounts. Forensic experts and search-and-rescue workers spent nearly a week looking for her remains. achanda Pickles stepfather could turn angry in a flash. Kaye had been raped and shot, Beck told Pam. John then reportedly left the home by himself, and wouldn't return until approximately 12:30 PM (roughly three hours later). We saw no human movement at all; no tracks, no nothing.". Rachanda Lea Pickle Missing Since 07/10/1990 Missing From Sweet Home, Oregon Age 13 years old Height and Weight 4'7, 90 pounds Clothing/Jewelry Description Pajamas or black sweatpants, a white t-shirt, sneakers and silver stud earrings. ALBANY, Ore. - Rachanda Pickle disappeared from her parent's home at the Oregon DOT employee compound at Santiam Junction in July 1990. Her bedroom did appear to be a mess, but as Linda would later tell reporters: "Her bedroom looked like an explosion hit it, but that wasn't unusual. For a man suspected of murder, Ackroyd was impassive under intense grilling by Salsbery and McAnulty. The following spring, a grand jury heard testimony from 17 witnesses, most of them people who knew the girl and Ackroyd. Rachanda's stepfather, John Arthur Ackroyd, is the last person known to have seen her. (ALBANY, OR) - Linn County detectives arrested a man for murder related to the 1990 disappearance of Rachanda Leah Pickle. Ackroyd drove by the woman twice that morning. In one transcript of an interrogation, Ackroyd offered this explanation of what could have happened to Rachanda: Somebody could have just come in, Ackroyd told police, knocked her over the head, throw her over the shoulders and just walk out without anybody seeing her.. The first time it was almost like he didnt want to be seen and the second time he was flamboyant, snapping pictures and waving, the coworker said. This would lead them to begin to question the statements of her stepfather. To him, this gave credence to the notion that she had intentionally run away, and had not been abducted, as originally theorized. Rachanda Lea Pickle Rachanda, approximately 1990; Age when reported missing: 41 (approximately 2018); John Arthur Ackroyd, approximately 1990; Ackroyd, approximately 2013 . Ackroyd was finally arrested 14 years after what's believed to be his first killing, the 1978 murder of Turner. To some, she seemed lost, almost invisible. This is about 150 miles southeast of Portland and about 80 miles northeast of Eugene. Eight months later, Ackroyd reported finding her remains in the woods. The last person known to have seen her: John Ackroyd. Her marriage to John had already deteriorated by the point Rachanda went missing, but her disappearance would prove to be the official break in the relationship despite him continuing to assert, both privately and publicly, that he had no idea what had happened to the missing girl. The DA knew Ackroyd had changed his story and admitted he had talked to Kaye the morning he encountered her on a run. Melissa Sanders was 17 and from Sweet Home. Ackroyd made the plea in open court, but then it was immediately sealed at his request. He loved her. In interviews, Ackroyd dwelled on how the teen had gotten her period and had begun to develop. He said he came home during a break from work and asked Rachanda if she wanted to go for a ride with him. If you recall, John Ackroyd had been one of the last people to see Kaye Turner alive and had also led police to her clothing and skull approximately eight months after her disappearance. Police and court records filled a file cabinet in the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. 'The most difficult part is keeping it in people's minds' | KVAL "I think we've come to the conclusion that we're probably not looking for a live individual.". He was convicted in Jefferson County of two counts of aggravated murder and three counts of murder in Turner's death. When he returned to the house at approximately 12:45 p.m., Rachanda had vanished. The responsibility of speaking for Rachanda rested with her brother, Byron Pickle. Rachandas green nightgown was on her bedroom floor. He would lead police to this scene - which he had discovered by mere chance, as he told it - and investigators would later identify the remains as Kaye Jean Turner's. Officials with the Linn County Sheriff's Office would continue to routinely check in on the case over the next several months; typically, whenever they received reports of sightings of Rachanda. The morning she disappeared, Pickles mother, Linda, had gone to work at Black Butte. Then, in the waning days of December 2016, it was announced that 67-year-old John Arthur Ackroyd, who had long been suffering from numerous health issues, had passed away from heart disease inside of his prison cell. Last seen alive: July 10, 1990. Rachanda nicknamed Chandy and her brother, Byron, had gone to live with their biological father, Steve Pickle, in Medford earlier in the summer. Rachanda Pickle's brother, Byron Pickle, was consulted during the state's negotiations with Ackroyd, Marteeny said. If we could find her remains, we could say our final goodbye, but at this point, we don't have anything We still think about her. She confided in two girls who were sisters. We always believed Ackroyd had something to do with his stepdaughters murder, said Salsbery, who retired in 1996. "That was something that he wanted," said George Eder, chief deputy district attorney for Linn County. Her mother, Linda, would add fuel to this fire by telling reporters with the Statesman Journal a week after her disappearance: "I really fully believe that she was taken without her will.". The next day, Hanlon hopped in a car with a Jefferson County deputy for a briefing on the search for Rachanda. At the wrong place at the right time.. Police had still not uncovered any sign of her whereabouts, and this conviction seemed to essentially slam the door on any likelihood of her being found alive. A police photo shows Rachanda's bedroom. Later speaking to the Statesman Journal, Rachanda's mother, Linda, would state: "I can't believe she's a runaway because she was wanting to go school-clothes shopping Sunday night. Kaye Turner's killing became a faded memory. Read the story Tagged: The Oregonian Support Longreads He's too much of a calm man.". Detective Mike Harmon with the Linn County Sheriff's Office told reporters: "It's difficult to prove that a 13-year-old doesn't exist. Bill Hanlon, the D.A. Then he said he left. She cried as she told one of them that she was terrified of returning to the junction alone. I did not do nothing. The more that investigators spoke with John Ackroyd, the more troubled they became. The night of RachandaPickles disappearance, John Ackroydinitiated sex with Linda Ackroyd. After Rachanda disappeared, he and her mother separated, and her mother moved to California and remarried. Linda, meanwhile, would attempt to defend her husband from accusations that she deemed unfounded, telling reporters that: "John ain't a violent man; he don't even beat the kids. From there, the search would be extended outside of the area around the maintenance complex that Rachanda lived in, to a roughly 50-square-mile area near Lost Lake, Hoodoo Butte, and Potato Hill. Unfortunately, any additional evidence would be hard to come by in this case, and it would remain stagnant for more than a decade until it was revived years later, in the most unlikely of ways. There, Rachanda would live alongside her mother, brother, and stepfather in a trailer at the junction, surrounded by dozens of miles of vast wilderness, becoming just one of a dozen or so families that called this mountain pass 'home.'. It wasn't until Oregonian reporters began digging into this case - following Ackroyd's death - that details of this plea deal would be released to the world at large. That winter, Kaye and her husband, Noel, had decided to head up to a cabin in the Camp Sherman area. You could tell they were both being physically abused, said Seiber, who now lives outside Houston. Ackroyd "found" her body eight months later and was under suspicion in her case for many years, but he wasn't convicted in her death until 1994. In the case of Rachanda, however, he told investigators that she had been, as recounted by the Oregonian in their "Ghosts of Highway 20" project: " dumped and buried in the woods or threatened with a knife, tied up and gagged, her body rolled in plastic". When youre a young kid used to living in Springfield and you go to the Santiam Junction, its like this is a desolate area.. He pleaded no contest in her death and agreed not to seek parole for Turner's murder and to decline release even if he became eligible. He's never went out of hand or spanked my kids against my will. He was arrested at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of Kaye Turner on December 24, 1978 in Camp Sherman, Oregon. He thought she was pretty, he said, and noticed that shed begun to develop. She was a young teenage girl with hopes and dreams, he said. While Rachanda was home alone during this period, someone else would claim to see her a few hours after this. While police had always kept John Ackroyd at the top of their suspect list, they never had enough evidence to pursue charges against anyone. Rachandas mother now says: So there was something going on there but I just didnt see it then., REMEMBERING RACHANDA (Photo 1 of 4): Byron Pickle is 43 and lives in Aumsville with his wife and two children. RACHANDA PICKLE - zaginiona pasierbica seryjnego mordercy Rachanda Pickle - The Charley Project Blog The family had lived at the state highway compound for six years. John Ackroyd, a longtime state highway worker, died alone in his prison celllate last year while serving a life sentence in another murder. he officers assigned to interrogate Ackroyd were direct. Her disappearance set off one of the largest search efforts in Linn County history; her remains were never found. By then, Ackroyd was dead; he had died in prison in late 2016. There are lots of nooks and crannies that you cant see by air, Martinak said, adding that a helicopter search was especially useful for steep areas where someone on foot or horseback couldnt effectively search. While his marriage to Linda was rather unusual - the couple divorced after a year, but continued to live together and were still technically a "couple" in every sense of the word - the family seemed to have become accustomed to this quiet little corner of the world. Despite them ruling out the theory pretty definitively within a day or so of her disappearance, investigators would be plagued by rumors of potential sightings throughout the area. He told Linda to wait until the next day to call police. Since investigators had not yet uncovered any physical trace of Rachanda, they (along with prosecutors) were prepared to seek a case centered around a "no-body" homicide, which would require proof that the victim was no longer alive. This would usually lead to him being sentenced for the crime, but the attorneys involved agreed to suspend sentencing for an indefinite period meaning that he received no actual sentence for this crime. But prosecutors argued that not only had John given contradictory statements to questions he fully understood, but he had also lied about certain details to deflect suspicion from himself. The resolution, in this case, would allow closure for the loved ones of Kaye Turner but was little solace for the friends and family of Rachanda Pickle, who had been missing for approximately four years at the time of sentencing. Her case remained unsolved. Sheriff Art Martinak supervised the search operation over a rugged 50-square-mile area in the Lost Lake, Hoodoo Butte and Potato Hill areas that are lined with jagged lava beds. Unfortunately, police had been unable to uncover any evidence of the teenager's current whereabouts, so they couldn't speak beyond these generalities without mucking up their ongoing investigation. Ackroyd told authorities Rachanda was watching cartoons when he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. The Oregonian/OregonLive went to court to lift a judge's order that had kept secret for years John Ackroyd's unusual plea deal in the death of his 13-year-old stepdaughter Rachanda Pickle. Maybe it was the girls development, he told police, that drew a predator to the junction. Linda was getting ready to head to work at Black Butte - near Sisters, about thirty miles east - and asked for some help doing her hair. Approximately two months later, Rachanda's 14th birthday would pass by without any celebration or fanfare. 0. While the case would remain registered as open and/or unsolved in the Oregon state database, there was no movement to proceed with Ackroyd's trial for the murder of Rachanda Pickle. But Rachanda Pickle's disappearance remained unsolved. He was painting the tailgate. Then there are the 1992 murders of Sheila Swanson and Melissa Sanders, teenagers whose bodies were found months after their initial disappearance. In the autumn of 2013, Ackroyd reached a plea deal with prosecutors in Rachanda's death. The Charley Project is NOT a registered non-profit organization and any donations will NOT be tax-deductible. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, By Alex Paul and Kyle Odegard, Albany Democrat-Herald, Two Albany pharmacies will close their doors next month, Sad ending to story: Lebanon goose killed, Trash, recycling, yard waste pickup day changing in Linn County, Lebanon woman accused of setting fire to her grandparents' house, Albany gas station briefly missed annual report, Waterfront project costs more than Albany anticipated, Update: Man says he set Sweet Home church fire, 'I don't like church', Falls City man sentenced to 8 years in prison for manslaughter, DUII, Mattel introduces first Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome, Highway 20 construction prompts these changes between Albany, Corvallis, Police track bullet holes at Sweet Home elementary to neighborhood, LBCC faculty: Budget cut process violated our contract, High school track and field: Dickson quickly climbs the rankings, Philomath man accused of multiple Dollar Tree robberies, 'A legend is born': Kirsten Neuschfer becomes first woman to win historic Golden Globe Race, OSP inmate faces Linn County murder charge. Investigators were already familiar with John because of his history; in particular, his connection to the still-unsolved case of Kaye Turner, the jogger that had gone missing on Christmas Eve back in 1978. This had originally been discovered by a dog, but the dog's owner called police to the scene, leading to a full-scale dig of the area where the skull had been found, which uncovered some additional fragments of bone.
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